In New York, a buck has been spotted with several feet of Christmas lights tangled in his antlers. It is hoped that he will soon shed his antlers and the lights along with them; however, there is also the possibility that the tree lights could become further entangled in tree branches or something else which could result in injury to the deer. There are hundreds of thousands of human made paraphernalia and discarded items that pose grave danger and often death, to unsuspecting birds and mammals.
Wildlife is already challenged with the mere act of survival – finding food and escaping predators. Added to that, most species are losing habitat, some in part due to global warming. There are fewer suitable places for them to bring up their young and often their food source has been either eliminated, or poisoned by herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides. Waterfowl and many other birds suffer from lead poisoning in our lakes and streams and collisions with power lines and windows, during their bi-yearly migrations. As if these animals did not have enough to contend with, there is the danger posed by things that we have either purposely put outdoors, such as Christmas lights, things that we have inadvertently left lying around, or things that have been blown out of the garbage bin by the wind. The number of human manufactured items that can spell death to wildlife is unfathomable.
When I was caring for a large collection of swans, I would erect feeders at the edges of the ponds. One day while I was out filling the feeders, I discovered a male wood duck that had become caught inside the feeder. Fortunately, I was able to carefully lift him out and set him free. On another occasion, there was a gap in the window screen on the door of an outbuilding on a property that I was renting. A hawk had become stuck in the gap and could not free itself. I had just gotten into my car when I saw it and gratefully, I had a pair of leather gloves handy. I was able to gently extract the hawk and help it out of its predicament.
It takes but a moment to be aware of our surroundings and notice if there is danger lurking, which could cause great distress to another species. It takes but a moment to see that our garbage is securely covered so that it does not pose a threat to our local wildlife. It takes only a little forethought to determine if any act we are about to undertake, may cause harm to another life form. I have already talked about the serious problem of light pollution. Could this be the year that you decide not to decorate the outside of your home with lights – or anything else that could become a deadly trap for a bird or animal?
